Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that employees who disrupt operations at Ben-Gurion Airport should face dismissal, following a surprise strike that temporarily disrupted air travel and affected tens of thousands of passengers.

“Ben-Gurion Airport will continue to remain open and operate as usual,” said Netanyahu. “Whoever stands in the way should be fired.”

The prime minister’s remarks came after workers at Ben-Gurion Airport ended their unexpected strike at 3:00 p.m. The walkout grounded flights for roughly an hour and disrupted the travel plans of approximately 100,000 passengers.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev said earlier Thursday that she had directed Israel Airports Authority management to immediately seek intervention from the Labor Court against the workers’ union.

Regev argued that steps were necessary to stop what she described as a “thug-like, illegal strike,” adding, “Whoever made the decision to make tens of thousands of Israeli citizens hostage will pay a heavy price.”

Former Transportation Ministry Director-General Criticizes Government Management

Former Transportation Ministry director-general Keren Terner blamed what she characterized as “excessive political appointments and failed management” within the government for the disruption.

“Anyone who’s stuck right now at Ben Gurion Airport, or in traffic jams, or waiting hours for a bus that never shows up – I want you to know that things don’t have to be this way,” she said in a post on X. “They’ve conditioned us to a government that normalizes the idea that nothing can be fixed, but soon it will be different.”

Opposition figure Gadi Eisenkot also connected the airport disruption to the Netanyahu government, arguing that the incident reflected broader problems in how the government operates.

“The chaos at Ben-Gurion Airport on one of the busiest days of the year is not an isolated incident; it is a reflection of the failed management culture of the Netanyahu government – chaos and disorder, lack of management and lack of accountability.”

“The Israeli government’s lack of interest in the lives of its citizens and, above all, lack of leadership,” he continued. “Israeli citizens deserve leadership that takes responsibility, stands up to the challenges, and knows how to address systems from the ground up.”

Bennett Blames ‘Government of Chaos’ for Airport Disruption

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett also weighed in on the strike, blaming the disruption on what he called a broader failure of government management.

“Ben-Gurion Airport is in chaos because of a government of chaos.”

“Tens of thousands of Israelis were blackmailed by the government on one of the busiest days at Ben-Gurion Airport, because of political interests,” Bennett said in comments made at the airport. “They only care about their personal interests, and the people of Israel are paying the price.”